Mike Rutherford was no stranger to the music scene. Prior to releasing solo albums in 1980 and 1982, he had already established himself as one of the founding members and bassist of Genesis, releasing nine albums with the group before venturing out on his own for the first time. Despite releasing two albums, Rutherford never felt fulfilled as a solo artist. Rather, that artistically, the end result was better when having collaboration with other artists. He just didn't want it to strictly be with remaining members of Genesis, Phil Collins and Tony Banks.
This would ultimately lead to Rutherford forming Mike + The Mechanics, which featured notable artists, Paul Carrack, Paul Young, Adrian Lee, and Peter Van Hooke. Despite being "his" band, Mike stuck to lead and bass guitar, contributing backing vocals, leaving shared lead vocals to both Paul's.
Their 1985 debut self titled album garnered three top forty hits, Silent Running, All I Need Is A Miracle, and Taken In. Overall, and for me personally, the rest of the tracks leave a lot to be desired. It's just not satisfying as a whole. There was nothing beyond the hits that I really felt like I needed to hear again. Mind you, I tend to feel the same way about Genesis, so this wasn't really surprising to discover.
Beyond that, there's not much more to say from my own perspective because I actually ended up tapping out on this one around the
half way point. It just wasn't resonating with me. I'll take the hits,
and call it a day.
Critically, the album was a major success, and while Rutherford would return to Genesis for their highly popular Invisible Touch in 1986 and onward through their final album, 1997's Calling All Stations, he would return to Mike + The Mechanics periodically. The most popular being the 1988 follow up, Living Years. Since then, the band has released seven additional albums through 2019.
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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
February 5, 1983
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